Haunted
by r2roswell
Summary: Set in S4. Gold plans to leave Storybrooke with his magic intact and kidnap his grandson in the process. Aside from Hook whom he now controls, no one knows about his plans but even that can't stop the past from haunting him.
1. Chapter 1

Dedicated To:

**Fox24 FF**

who requested this story.

We may not always be happy with the stories we are given

so sometimes it's best to make up our own

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><p><strong>[Chapter 1]<strong>

_"It turned me into a monster, obsessed with power, when all I really needed was you, your love. And now through Belle, there's love in my life again. And once more I've started it with a lie. She thinks she has the real dagger, I only lied to her in order to avenge your death and now that I've done so, I really need the strength to give it back, be that man I should be: the man you died for. And I pledged Baelfire I will be that man. Your heroism has shown me the way. I promise I'll spend my life repaying you for that," Gold said as he sat in front of his son's gravestone. _

Empty words from an empty man. Baelfire was dead and nothing Gold said or did could ever bring him back. Yes he had Belle, yes he had love in his life again but what was love compared to the almost endless years of searching for his boy only to lose him to the one obstacle that not even power could save a man from?

And so the ever powerful Dark One continued his life in Storybrooke but not without purpose. Somewhere in the depths of his soul, in the depths of his black heart, a new plan was forming one that he had hoped would make his life have meaning once again.

Lucky for him the fates made things quicker. There had been a new player in town, one who he was certain he could manipulate, as he always had, to get exactly what he wanted.

With the magician's hat now in his possession having found it at his and Belle's honeymoon retreat, the pieces of his plan were starting to come together nicely.

Quickly Gold was happy to have the first Snow Queen from Arendelle in Storybrooke. She was an easy distraction for the sheriff and her pesky family who now essentially controlled the mayor's office. As long as they were focused on her they could leave him and his schemes alone.

In the time since her arrival, with close precision he was able to mark every move, wait for the right moment to place the next piece. It was all about control. And the control was one of the things about his power that he loved most. Like now when he had absolute control over the very person in Sheriff Swan's life.

He stared at the heart in the glass jar, the heart that belonged to the Sheriff's current boy toy, Killian Jones. His truce with the filthy pirate had long since been over. It felt right to have the upper hand again, so to speak.

What Gold hadn't expected was for his plan to backfire. Using the magician's hat he had lured Emma to his once honeymoon retreat hoping to capture her magic, an escape from the pain and desperation she was feeling since her powers were currently out of control. He needed strong and powerful magic to complete the hat. The more power it held the more powerful his plan of escape but his plan had failed him. He hadn't foreseen that Emma's ally, another annoyance from Arendelle, to come to her aid and convince her that magic was who she was. Damn those heroes he thought as Hook had told him everything that had happened inside.

No worries, plans could always be altered and once again he would gain control. If he couldn't have Emma's magic he would certainly find it someplace else. She wasn't the only magical creature in Storybrooke.

There was still part of his plan that Gold needed. Henry. Taking Belle with him wouldn't be an issue. She was his wife, she loved him unconditionally and more importantly she trusted him. She was naïve to think that he was a good man. And he was to an extent, at least that's how Gold viewed himself. He was convinced he was doing all of this for her and for Henry. It was all for them.

But how to get Henry away from his other grandparents and his two powerful mothers: That was the difficult mission ahead.


	2. Chapter 2

**[Chapter 2]**

"Papa," Gold heard a whisper in the middle of the night. "Papa."

Gold sat up but no one was there. "Bae?"

"Papa."

The sound of his son's voice seemed to be close. Gold looked over at Belle who was sleeping soundly. As quietly as he could he got up from the bed and left the room.

"Papa."

"Bae," Gold called out. "Where are you?"

"Papa."

Gold found his son in the massive living room of his home. Baelfire stood before his father as he had many times before. It almost looked as if he were still here except for the bluish tint and an almost glow-like quality around his body.

"You're here," Gold said not wanting to believe it.

"Yup," Neal said with hatred in his eyes.

Gold shook his head, "No this is a dream. You can't be here. I'm imagining it."

"You're not imagining it Papa. I'm here."

"How?"

"How else, magic. Imagine that hu, the very thing I was running from, the very thing I embraced at the end and now it's magic that allows me to cross between realms."

Gold smiled and tears began to fill his eyes, "I've missed you Bae."

"No you haven't, not really." Gold was taken aback by these words. "Let me put it simply: you haven't missed me, you wanna know why, because you're too caught up in your schemes to even consider me."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it! Emma's parents named their son after me. Not Baelfire, son of the Dark One but as Neal. The man I was in this world- the man who loved Emma and who did everything in my power to protect her, Henry, and the town. They saw me as a hero."

"You are a hero son."

"Then why have you betrayed me!" Neal said with a loud yell.

"I haven't betrayed you, Bae."

"You promised to be a better man. I heard you when you were at my grave site." Neal shook his head. "I was naïve to believe you. Your promises mean nothing, to think you could ever change but you can't can you? As long as you want power, as long as you remain selfish you'll never be the man I wanted as a father."

"I can be son, what do I have to do prove that to you?"

"Leave my boy alone. I know you want to take him out of Storybrooke. I know you want to take him away from Emma. You've all ready tried to get Hook to kidnap him."

"I-,"

"Don't bother trying to deny it. I've seen it. See one of the perks about being dead is I have more knowledge to things than you'll ever know even with all that power, one of the upsides to having died as one of the good guys."

"Bae, he's my link to you. I can't lose that."

"And I can't let you take him away from his mother. I told Emma that I'd be looking over her and Henry and I meant it. If you try anything, if you try to hurt my family or even go near them I swear you'll wish it had been you that died instead of me."

"Strong words for you, son. Not very heroic."

"I've all ready cleared it with a higher authority. I wouldn't be the first to get justice for a family in this way. It's happened before. I tried to give you a chance when I was alive, I forgave you but if you take my son away from the woman I love I'll never forgive you for that. I spent my existence hating you and being mad at you, I don't have a problem doing it again."

As easily as Gold had heard his son's voice when he woke up, Baelfire now as easily faded away.

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><p><em>Author's Question:<em>

Should I Continue?


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